Janardhana Reddy Arrested !!!

Janardhana Reddy was sent to 14-day judicial custody on 05-09-2011 :

Hyderabad: Janardhana Reddy, the Tourism Minister of Karnataka till recently as last month, has been arrested 4 illegal mining & taken into 14-day judicial custody in Chanchanaguda Jail. D CBI team raided Mr Reddy's home on Sep.05.2011 in Bellary, on D border b/w Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh, an area tat has given his two brothers & him incredible clout in D political landscape of both states. Janardhana, Somasekhara & Karunakara Reddy have built their fortune through mining, most of it illegal, according to a series of cases against them. The CBI reportedly found Rs. 3 crore in cash and 30 kilos of gold 4m D former minister's palatial mansion. His brother-in-law, Srinivas Reddy, who is the managing director of one of the mining companies owned by the Reddy family, has also been arrested after his home in Bangalore was raided. Both Srinivas & Janardhana r now at d CBI headquarters in Hyderabad. The Reddy family officially owns a group of mining companies tat operate in Andhra Pradesh. Of these, d most controversial has been d Obalapuram Mining Company (OMC), which lists Janardhana as a Director and Srinivas as Managing Director. While d company operates in Andhra Pradesh, it is headquartered in Bellary about 300 km from Bangalore.

OMC has shown the sort of growth curve that would have most entrepreneurs salivating. It was set up in 2001 by Gali Janardhana, when 34 years old, with an initial capital of Rs. 10 lakh. By 2003-2004, OMC had taken over several mining leases directly or indirectly and had reported a turnover of Rs. 35 crore. In just five years, by March 2009, the turnover was Rs. 3,000 crore. The Reddys' political graph followed a similar path. In 1999, when senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj contested the Lok Sabha election 4rm Bellary, d Reddys were widely acknowledged as powering her campaign. She lost the election, but the Reddys had acquired a new prominence. By 2008, Karunakara became d Revenue Minister; Janardhana had d Tourism portfolio.

The Lokayukta or ombudsman of Karnataka, Justice Santosh Hegde, who retired last month, said in different reports that the Reddys misused their powers as ministers to protect their own mining interests, and to coerce other mining companies into serving as fronts for them. The Reddys allegedly provided safe passage to trucks carrying illegal amounts of iron-ore for export from mines to ports nearby. While Mr Yeddyurappa was forced to quit as Karnataka Chief Minister, the Reddys, despite shrill lobbying, were not inducted into the new Cabinet formed by Sadanana Gowda, who now heads the government.

The BJP has tried to play down today's arrest as part of routine investigation. "It has been in public knowledge for a long time that Janardhana Reddy has been carrying on mining activity. He has been making claim that he's not done anything illegal... I don't see anything special in this. It's natural course of investigation. I am sure Mr Reddy will come out clean after proving to authorities that he is innocent and he has not violated any rules," senior BJP leader Dhananjay Kumar said.

The Congress was quick to retort, "Unfortunate that BJP spokesperson saying so. If you look at Bellary, it's obvious that national wealth has been looted... The Lokayukta said it is no lesser than the 2G scam." The party's BK Hariprasad also tore into Dhananjay Kumar for saying that the Reddy's had played an important part in developing the BJP at the grass roots in Karnataka and that the party "has benefitted by their political activity."